The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

Ryuji Tsukazaki is a merchant sailor who has spent his life believing the sea holds some grand destiny meant only for him. When he falls in love with Fusako, a widow who runs a luxury shop in Yokohama, he abandons the sea to marry her and settle into ordinary domestic life. Fusako's 13-year-old son Noboru worships Ryuji as a hero until the sailor comes ashore, and to Noboru and his gang of bright, emotionally vacant boys, this choice to become a stepfather is a fall from glory that demands punishment. The boys, who have already practiced cruelty on a stray cat to prove their freedom from sentiment, build a cold case for destroying the man whose only crime was wanting a human life.